Reviews by doktorhops:

Beer review #200: Let's just say this calls for a celebration and I thought why not try a saison? And what's a better saison than Dupont? None according to what others have said. I can't believe it's been 200 beers already, remember the early reviews? No, well here's some excerpts randomly thrown together: "designed to streamline... radical tortoise... hierarchy under subjective rule... these images are manifest to mankind... please step away from the doors... like ice in a glacier...". *note some/all excerpts may have nothing whatsoever to do with beer.

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a St Feuillien chalice.

A: Cloudy pale gold body with an ample (and excitable) 2cm white head that stands resolute in the glass.

S: Sweet scented cider apples, barnyard straw, musky yeast and an earthy hop note round out the aroma. It's a very rustic fragrance and one that invites you like an eastern European person would into their home for a nice hearty bowl of Goulash.

T: Wow is all I can say. Such a well balanced flavour profile - begins with those sweet cider apples, mid-palate adds a touch of sour yeast and some distilled grain alcohol, then finishes with citric hop bitterness and a Champagne dryness together in harmony. Reminiscent of Duvel in all the right ways.

M: Body is medium, carbonation is creamy with a bit of Champagne fizz.

D: Highly drinkable and highly balanced, I cannot think of a single negative about this brew. I'm impressed by the simplicity (there aren't many flavours at play here) and the fact that it doesn't bore me at the same time. A real contender to Duvel, and cheaper as well.

Food match: The vinous character of this beer would most suit anything that goes well with white wine; light pasta, fish, and Asian cuisine. In fact this brew has flavours that would compliment anything bar game meats and char-grilled steaks.

Saison Dupont Vieille Provision has a very thick, frothy, off-white head, a cloudy, yellow-gold appearance, with lively bubble streams, fine (and, not so fine) tan particles roiling about, and heavy lacing left behind. When the bottom contents are swished and poured in, a gray cloud is seen slowly descending in the glass. The aroma was of a slight skunk, but I mostly got a pungent, sweet, bready, yeasty smell, and the flavor was of yeasty, white bread, a touch of coriander, a shadow of banana, white bread crust, candi sugar, and, of course, strong barley malt and prominent hop bitterness (not unlike a pilsener bitterness). Mouthfeel is medium and prickly, and Saison Dupont finishes semi-dry, refreshing, thirst quenching, and drinkable. Overall, this is outstanding.

This brew pours light golden brown. Huge pale head on top. Muffin top style. Nose is of apricot and the all too familiar belgian yeast. The description on the bottle is right on the mark, "a big fruity bouquet, taste starts fruity but ends dry and very clean with a light refreshing body". If a hefeweizen was given a sharper bite it would be this. If you are looking for a solid brew, it is here guys and gals.

Maybe the epidome of the style. A terrific beer--hands down. From the onset of a magical deep yellow glow with stark-white head retention, incredible rocky head retention, sprikled with peppery spices, and continuous lacing. Sweet and tart aromas with soft pilsner malts, yeast, bread, fruits, and hop spiciness. Tastes richly of sweet bready / fruity malts that bring out pears, berries, apples, and appricots. Spicy with peppery hops, bitterness, alcohol, and tartness. Smooth and light on the palate with a soft dry finish. Very clean with slight tart aftertaste. Mildly acidic and vineous throughout. One of the best beers out there.

Poured into my chalice a slightly hazy orange/gold with a mammouth white head that stuck like glue as to the sides of the glass as it took its times settling.Wow the tons of stuff going on aroma wise some definent barnyard funck hits right after popping the cork along with some lemon rind and even a light phenolic smokiness in there as well.Very refreshing ale to say the least here,hints of lemon and coriander with a leafy,herbal finish.Clean and fruity and oh so damn refreshing a true classic and a summer quencher I wish I had more.

Pours a cloudy, golden-orange. Huge off-white frothy head that holds up forever. the nose airy with yeast and an outdoorsie, grassy kick. The taste is of yeast & bread with a earthy kick to it. Quite interesting. A long bitter finish with a pinch of tartness...almost a dry woodiness. Some fruit n spice linger as well. A light bodied beer with a mostly smooth & lively mouthfeel. Nice enough to have more than one...a good thirst quencher.

Appearance  This Saison is a thing of beauty. The head rose up nicely on an easy pour, showed great retention, and even left some lacing as I drank it down. It was white as the driven snow. The body itself was that thick, slightly orange yellow that Ive come to know and love.

Smell  This has some of the farm funk to it, but its really quite balanced. Theres a nice, easy yeast that soothes the nostrils. The spicing is actually more like a Tripel.

Taste  Ah, yes, quite the delicacy. The farmhouse character comes out a bit more at the taste, but its still balanced with yeast. The spices are powdery and very strong, again much like a Tripel or BSPA. The white pepper is prominent here.

Mouthfeel  This Saison is medium-bodied and very fluffy in the cheeks due to the wonderful carbonation. Theres a slight bit of drying at the end but it is super smooth.

Drinkability  Some Saisons can be tough to session, but this one is very smooth and went down quite well. It was one of the more drinkable examples of the style that Ive had.

Dupont pours a cloudy gold with a touch of orange into a large snifter. An off-white head debuts at a height of three fingers. This head is densely packed with tiny bubbles and it recedes very slowly. A little sediment resides in the beer and carbonation bubbles race to the top of my glass. The lacing is quite frothy, thick, and sticky.

Fresh aromas of crisp apple, pear, clove, cinammon, banana, kiwi, and a little pepper abound in this brew. The smell harkens a memory of of dew on fragrant leaves.

The initial taste is very fresh and biting on the palate with notes of Granny Smith apple, pear, and clove that just explode all over my palate. Wow, that is just a blast of freshness. After that initial pop, a mellower influence of banana and kiwi flavors settle on my tongue, along with a bit of subtle malt and and gently bitter hops.

The carbonation makes this mouthfeel truly great. The beer simply cascades with an effervescent sparkle from the front to back of my palate. It then transitions to a mellow, light to medium-bodied feel on my tongue. The finish is refreshingly crisp, biting, and dry.

Saison Dupont is a beer that I will keep enjoying over time. It is so flavorful and refreshing, and is a standout example of the style.

Pours the color of hay with a masssive white crown on top. It just came off the truck today, so I don't know if that has anything to do with the Everest of foam or not. Some sulfur going on in the nose, which lightly detracts from the abundance of earth and barnyard packed within the walls of my glass. Crisp and clean, very lively on the palate. The egginess dies down shortly but never quite goes away, not that this is a bad thing in this particular beer. I'm lovin' it. Ba da ba ba ba m*the^[email protected]#$r. Rustic farmhouse flavors to the max; finishing with a note of zesty lemon and peppery hop spice.

Sheer elegance. Try to make sure and get a fresh one, or at least one from the back of the shelf as far away from light as possible, I think it can skunk a little.